On November 3, 2023, HKS Student Policy Review Senior Editor Samriddhi Vij sat down with former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Syria, Edward Djerejian, to discuss the Israel-Hamas war. The conversation focused on the U.S. role in Israel’s response to the Hamas attack and the most feasible best-case scenario for crafting peace in the region.
Ambassador (Ret.) Edward P. Djerejian joined the Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative after almost a 30-year tenure as founding director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. His diplomatic career spanned 32 years and eight presidential administrations from John F. Kennedy to Bill Clinton.
Djerejian is a leading expert on national security, foreign policy, and public diplomacy, particularly on the Middle East. He is the author of Danger and Opportunity: An American Ambassador’s Journey Through the Middle East.
He served as Deputy Chief of the U.S. mission to the Kingdom of Jordan (1981-1984) and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (1986-1988). Djerejian also served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Syrian Arab Republic (1988-1991) and the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (1991-1993). He was appointed by President Clinton as United States Ambassador to Israel (1993-1994).
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